Chapter 2 : An Unexpected Kiss

“What nonsense is this…?”

Yihyun wiped his lips roughly and glared at the man.

The man simply shrugged.

“You really don’t know me?”

“Why would I know you? You’re probably doing this because you don’t want to get reported, but don’t get your hopes up.”

‘If I’d seen a face this handsome, I wouldn’t have forgotten it. What kind of cheap trick is this?’ Yihyun thought to himself.

The man now seemed to believe Yihyun wasn’t lying.

“Sorry. I’ve been followed by a stalker.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

Yihyun looked up at him, his face filled with alertness.

“I’m late introducing myself. I’m actor Kang Ijeong.”

“An actor…?”

The only thing their parents had left behind was his younger sister, who was still a middle schooler.

To Yihyun, busy raising his sister and earning a living, actors felt like a species from another world.

“Sorry, but I don’t watch TV or movies much. I can’t trust that you’re really an actor.”

“Yeah, you look like that. Let’s see, how should I prove it…”

Ijeong thought for a moment, then spoke.

“Oh, there should be a poster of me at the department store nearby.”

He clapped his hands as if he had a brilliant idea, quickly put on a hat and mask, and grabbed Yihyun’s hand.

“Hey, hey?”

Yihyun, being dragged by a stranger for the first time in his life, called out desperately.

But Ijeong ignored him and pulled him all the way to the department store.

“See?”

Arriving at the department store, Yihyun saw the man’s face covering an entire wall and nodded.

“Ah, yes. So you really are an actor…”

His expression on the poster was completely different, but it was definitely the same person.

If a celebrity had their face plastered on a department store wall, they were definitely famous.

“But what does that have to do with you… that thing you did to me?”

Yihyun asked, pouting as they moved to a less crowded area.

Ijeong looked genuinely apologetic.

“There’s this really vicious stalker after me. She’s delusional and keeps following me, claiming we’re dating. As a last resort, I said I had a lover, but she demanded proof. So I acted on impulse… I’m really sorry.”

According to Ijeong, he was being stalked.

Even after moving secretly time and time again, the stalker always found him as if she possessed a sixth sense.

At first, she followed him while spouting nonsense like, –Let’s date. I know you better than anyone in the world.–

Recently, she had started asking why he was pretending they weren’t dating, and her behavior had grown violent.

To shake her off, he told her he was seeing someone, and she quieted down for a while.

But then she showed up again and started harassing him.

–What don’t I know about you? You’re lying, right? Ijeong, have I done something to upset you? I’m really hurt.–

–I told you, I have a lover.–

–Liar. Then bring them here. Until you do, I won’t believe you. More importantly, Ijeong…–

Suddenly creeped out, Ijeong had run away from the stalker and ended up in the alley, where he saw Yihyun standing alone.

No one else was around.

He thought that if he showed her he had a partner, that crazy stalker might finally back off.

So he had kissed Yihyun.

“I understand the situation, but that doesn’t justify doing that to a stranger.”

“I’m really sorry.”

The man’s apology calmed Yihyun down a bit.

Yihyun looked at the bowing Ijeong and thought to himself.

‘Today must be a really unlucky day.’

He woke up late, went out looking like a complete mess, caught his boyfriend of seven years cheating, didn’t even get an apology before being dumped, and then got dragged into a kiss by a superstar being chased by a stalker.

What were the odds of all that happening in a single day?

“This isn’t really thanks for helping, but if something happens…”

“Ah, forget it.”

Maybe because the situation was so utterly absurd, Yihyun’s tears had dried up.

Just a moment ago, he felt like the most miserable person in the world.

Now he was annoyed, but no longer as depressed.

“I’ll just consider it bad luck. Just go.”

Dwelling on it would only make him feel worse.

Yihyun cut off the man’s talk of repayment and shook his head.

“Oh, just in case…”

Ijeong searched his pockets and handed over a business card.

“It’s my manager’s card. If any problems come up related to this, please contact me here.”

Yihyun stared at the card for a moment before taking it.

“Well, I’ll keep it. But I hope I don’t need to use it.”

“I’m really sorry.”

Apologizing with such a handsome face full of regret, it was hard for Yihyun to say anything harsh.

Plus, knowing the man was an actor suffering from a stalker, he actually felt a little sorry for him.

“All sorts of things happen.”

Thankfully, the tears that had been flowing endlessly had finally stopped, so he could go home.

‘We’ll probably never meet again.’

Thinking that, Yihyun went home.

“Oppa, wake up. Oppa!”

The next day, Yihyun woke up to his younger sister Yeseo’s urgent voice.

“It’s Saturday… Let me sleep a bit more.”

“This is no time for sleeping!”

Yihyun, still glued to his blanket, grumbled but eventually gave in to Yeseo’s persistence and opened his eyes.

But he didn’t want to get up just yet, only poking his face out from the blanket.

“You know I sleep all day on Saturday. Why did you wake me up…”

“Oppa, do you know Kang Ijeong?”

Kang Ijeong?

The name sounded familiar. Who was that?

With his sleep-addled brain, Yihyun slowly recalled.

“Oh, that actor?”

That crazy guy from yesterday… no, the actor.

But how did Yeseo know him?

“Is he famous?”

“Are you kidding? Nobody in this country doesn’t know Kang Ijeong.”

Ah… so he was famous.

Yihyun nodded, barely able to open his eyes.

“Oppa, are you really dating Kang Ijeong?”

“……What?”

Yeseo’s urgent question finally woke Yihyun up completely.

He threw off the blanket and sat up straight.

Only then did he wonder how Yeseo knew about that unpleasant incident, which only he and that man should have known about.

“What nonsense is that?”

“This is you!”

Yeseo shoved her phone right in front of Yihyun’s face.

Yihyun took the phone, his eyes widening as he stared at the screen.

[The Rise of a 21st Century Cinderella: Who Is the Secret Lover of the Number One Most Wanted Boyfriend?]

“……What is this?”

“That’s what I want to ask! Oppa, is this real? Are you dating Kang Ijeong? What about Gyujin oppa? Why didn’t you tell me? I love Kang Ijeong!”

Even with the barrage of questions and complaints, Yihyun could only stare blankly at the screen.

What nonsense was this?

With trembling hands, he scrolled down and saw a video attached to the article.

–Honey, are you that upset? I’m sorry for everything. So stop being mad and look at me, okay?–

–My honey, are you really mad?–

Only then did Yihyun remember the man who had shouted “Scoop!” and run away.

He pressed a hand to his forehead.

A kiss with a celebrity, followed by a man shouting “Scoop!”—it was obvious he was a reporter.

How could he have forgotten?

He had been so flustered yesterday that it had completely slipped his mind.

They must have edited out all of his curses and only kept those specific parts.

But more than that, what was this article?

[Kang Ijeong’s agency, RAINS Company, said, “We are currently confirming the facts.”]

How could they write an article without even confirming the truth?

And while Kang Ijeong was a famous celebrity, Yihyun was just an ordinary person who had been hit by lightning out of nowhere.

Yihyun clutched at his hair.

“When did this article come out?”

“At twelve, so about an hour ago…? But oppa, how could you keep this a secret from me? I…”

“Yeseo. Shin Yeseo. Please be quiet. I’ll explain everything later.”

Yihyun grabbed his throbbing head and fell into deep thought.

If he told her the truth, he would have to start with getting miserably dumped, and he wasn’t mentally ready to share that with his sister just yet.

“I was looking at my phone and saw an article about Kang Ijeong, and there you were. Do you know how shocked I was?”

Ignoring Yeseo’s ear-splitting shouts, Yihyun started rummaging through the trash can.

‘I hope we never need to contact him.’

He had thrown the business card into the trash yesterday when he emptied his pockets.

He had to find that card and demand a correction of that ridiculous article.

“Oh, oppa!”

“Found it!”

Soon, he fished out the card, jumped up, and looked around for his phone.

“Let’s talk later. I’ll tell you everything later.”

Yihyun pushed Yeseo out of the room, ignoring his sister’s exaggerated pouting.

[Missed calls: 28]

[Unread messages: 43]

In just an hour, tons of acquaintances had messaged him, probably having seen the article.

It was a good thing he had put his phone on silent for the weekend; otherwise, he would have answered the calls dumbly and only realized the situation then.

“Haah.”

Yihyun sighed and quickly typed the number from the card.

First, he had to demand a correction article.

If they did that, even if it was noisy for a few days, the whole thing would be forgotten within a week.

Clinging to that hopeful thought, he pressed the call button.

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